The Revenant (soundtrack)

The Revenant: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is a soundtrack album for the 2015 film, The Revenant, composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto with additional music by Bryce Dessner. It was released digitally on December 25, 2015, and on CD on January 8, 2016 by Milan Records.

The Revenant: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alva Noto and Bryce Dessner
ReleasedDecember 25, 2015
Recorded
GenreAmbient
Length70:43
LabelMilan Records
Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto chronology
Summvs
(2011)		 The Revenant
(2015)
Ryuichi Sakamoto chronology
Perpetual
(2015)		 The Revenant
(2015)		 Nagasaki: Memories of My Son
(2016)
Alva Noto chronology
Xerrox Vol.3
(2015)		 The Revenant
(2015)		 Unieqav
(2018)

Overview

In September 2015, Japanese musician[1] Ryuichi Sakamoto was announced as the composer for director Alejandro González Iñárritu's The Revenant.[2] The two originally came in contact with each other after Iñárritu used songs of Sakamoto's in his 2006 film Babel.[3] Following a year-long professional hiatus in 2014 after being diagnosed with a type of throat cancer, Sakamoto's work on The Revenant marked his return to the industry despite still being in the middle of recovery.[4][5] In October 2015, it was revealed that Alva Noto (the stage name for Carsten Nicolai) and The National's Bryce Dessner would join Sakamoto in scoring the film.[6] Alva Noto, a frequent collaborator of Sakamoto's, was brought in personally by Sakamoto due to his concerns of health and fulfilling the scope of the score.[7] "What reason I called Carsten was simply, physically, the amount of music for this film is just gigantic," said Sakamoto in an interview with Rolling Stone "And naturally Alejandro wants acoustic music, like strings or whatever and very, um, edgy electronic music. Processed music. So it seemed very naturally to call Carsten you know?"[8]

Primary scoring sessions with Sakamoto took place throughout October 2015 at Bastyr Chapel's Seattlemusic Scoring Stage in Seattle.[9][10]

Milan Records released the soundtrack album digitally on December 25, 2015 and on CD on January 8, 2016.[11] While the soundtrack album features the music composed specifically for the film, there are many contemporary compositions featured in the film.[12]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
The Arts Desk[13]
éclat[14]
Consequence of Sound(favorable)[15]
NPR(favorable)[16]
Pitchfork Media7.3/10[17]
Soundtrack Dreams100%[18]
Soundtrack Geek100%[19]

The musical score has received positive reviews.

Writing for New York magazine, Justin Davidson compared Sakamoto's score to the contemporaneous score by Ennio Morricone for The Hateful Eight, stating:

Iñárritu made a completely different choice of composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto, who came to film from a career in experimental electronics... Sakamoto's is the more successful score. Both films slouch toward inevitable spasms of bloodshed, with long pensive stretches in between... Sakamoto slowly progresses through glacial chords that build toward a fortissimo horizon... The score doesn't so much follow the action here as lead it, urging the fighters on, even as it registers their single-minded lunacy.[20]

The score was nominated for Best Original Score at the 2016 Golden Globe Awards, and Best Film Music at the 2016 British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs), in both cases it was beaten by Morricone's soundtrack.

The score was ruled ineligible for the Academy Award for Best Original Score at the 2016 Oscars because it was "assembled from the music of more than one composer".[21] 20th Century Fox appealed against the decision and Sakamoto wrote a letter to the academy explaining his work.[22] Director Iñárritu was particularly unhappy about the decision. Speaking to Indiewire, Iñárritu said

The Academy is demanding that the way young musicians approach making music for film is narrow. That's super sad, they should be exploring new ways. Music is so powerful, that's an undeniable shame. This is the second time they are not doing it right for colleagues in the work. And this is scandalous.[22]

Track listing
No.TitleArtistsLength
1."The Revenant Main Theme"Ryuichi Sakamoto2:41
2."Hawk Punished"Alva Noto & Bryce Dessner2:14
3."Carrying Glass"Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto3:07
4."First Dream"Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto3:05
5."Killing Hawk"Ryuichi Sakamoto3:49
6."Discovering River"Ryuichi Sakamoto1:11
7."Goodbye to Hawk"Ryuichi Sakamoto3:41
8."Discovering Buffalo"Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto2:43
9."Hell Ensemble"Ryuichi Sakamoto2:38
10."Glass and Buffalo Warrior Travel"Ryuichi Sakamoto1:51
11."Arriving at Fort Kiowa"Ryuichi Sakamoto1:21
12."Church Dream"Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto2:38
13."Powaqa Rescue"Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alva Noto & Bryce Dessner5:35
14."Imagining Buffalo"Bryce Dessner2:39
15."The Revenant Theme 2"Ryuichi Sakamoto1:54
16."Second Dream"Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto1:13
17."Out of Horse"Ryuichi Sakamoto3:57
18."Looking for Glass"Bryce Dessner2:51
19."Cat & Mouse"Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alva Noto & Bryce Dessner5:42
20."The Revenant Main Theme Atmospheric"Ryuichi Sakamoto2:50
21."Final Fight"Ryuichi Sakamoto & Bryce Dessner6:35
22."The End"Ryuichi Sakamoto2:16
23."The Revenant Theme (Alva Noto Remodel)"Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto4:00
Total length:70:43

Personnel

Additional music

Additional music credited in The Revenant:[23]

Title Musician(s) Key scenes/Notes
"Arikara Elder" Chesley Wilson Sung by actor Chesley Wilson at the tail end of the Arikara ambush.
"Qilyuan" John Luther Adams Plays at the start of the Arikara ambush.
"Become Ocean" John Luther Adams Plays during the Arikara ambush. Adams' piece was also featured in the film's first official teaser trailer.[24]
"Haloid Xerrox Copy 11" Alva Noto
"Xerrox Spiegel" Alva Noto Plays as Hugh Glass leaves his son and heads west.
"Haloid Xerrox Copy 1" Alva Noto
"Xerrox Spark" Alva Noto
"Jetsun Mila (Excerpt)" Éliane Radigue
"The Place Where You Go to Listen" John Luther Adams
"Miss McLeod's Reel" Michael Fraser, Scott Duncan
"Harakiri Opening (from Harakiri – Death of a Samurai starring Ichikawa Ebizō XI from NHK Taiga drama, Hana no Ran, and Eita from Fuji TV Japanese drama, Last Friends)" Ryuichi Sakamoto
"Messiaen: Oraison" Olivier Messiaen Plays as Glass emerges from the dead horse. This music is extracted from the fourth movement of Messiaen's Fête des belles eaux and was later incorporated into his Quatuor pour la fin du temps.
"Taboos" Ryuichi Sakamoto
"Glacier" Ryuichi Sakamoto, Skúli Sverrisson, Ren Takada
"Stoukur" Hildur Guðnadóttir
"Op.1–1" Ryoji Ikeda
"Duoon" Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto
"Viisari" Vladislav Delay
"Lachrimae" Bryce Dessner
"Viaton" Vladislav Delay
"Whitten" Hildur Guðnadóttir

Charts
Chart (2016) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[25] 154
gollark: I expect most home laptops and stuff will be replaced with touch things or phone-type devices docked to big screens.
gollark: And there are the rumors of Apple moving to ARM chips in Macbooks.
gollark: It's already happening somewhat.
gollark: That too, really.
gollark: So I'd really prefer desktop ones.

References
  1. "Famous Japanese & Foreigners In Japan: Ryuichi Sakamoto". JapanVisitor. GoodsFromJapan KK. Archived from the original on February 1, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
  2. "Ryuichi Sakamoto Scoring Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 'The Revenant'". Film Music Reporter. September 29, 2015. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  3. Carter, Spike (December 29, 2015). "The Revenant Composer Ryuichi Sakamoto Explains His Process". Vanity Fair. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  4. Hughes, Josiah (September 29, 2015). "Ryuichi Sakamoto Scoring 'The Revenant'". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  5. Saxelby, Ruth (December 4, 2015). "In Conversation With The All-Knowing Ryuichi Sakamoto". The Fader. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  6. Coultate, Aaron (October 20, 2015). "Alva Noto joins Ryuichi Sakamoto on The Revenant score". Resident Advisor. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  7. Greiving, Tim (December 23, 2015). "In 'The Revenant,' A Return From Death's Door — Onscreen And Off". NPR Music. NPR. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  8. Weingarten, Christopher (December 17, 2015). "Ryuichi Sakamoto Details 'Gigantic' Score to 'Birdman' Director's 'The Revenant'". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Archived from the original on January 1, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  9. "THE REVENANT Seattle Scoring Session". Celebrity Images. October 20, 2015. Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  10. "The Revenant (2015) Production Credits". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  11. Minsker, Evan (December 2, 2015). "The National's Bryce Dessner Shares "Imagining Buffalo" From The Revenant Soundtrack". Pitchfork Media. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  12. van Cooten, Peter (January 18, 2016). "Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alva Noto with Bryce Dessner – The Revenant OST". ambientblog.net. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  13. Muggs, Joe (January 9, 2016). "CD: Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto – The Revenant Original Soundtrack". The Arts Desk. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  14. Bothe, Oliver (January 8, 2016). "Rezension: Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto, Bryce Dessner The Revenant OST". éclat (in German). Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  15. Kivel, Adam (January 5, 2016). "Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto feat. Bryce Dessner – The Revenant OST". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on January 23, 2017. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  16. Moon, Tom (December 30, 2015). "Review: Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alva Noto & Bryce Dessner, 'The Revenant'". NPR. Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  17. Corcoran, Nina (January 4, 2016). "Various Artists: The Revenant OST". Pitchfork Media. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  18. Manduteanu, Mihnea (December 2015). "Soundtrack review: The revenant (Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alva Noto and Bryce Dessner – 2015)". Soundtrack Dreams. A small measure of peace. Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  19. Tillnes, Jørn (December 31, 2015). "Soundtrack Review: The Revenant". Soundtrack Geek. Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  20. Davidson, Justin (December 27, 2015). "Reviewing the Scores of 2015's Celebrated Films". Vulture. New York. Archived from the original on January 27, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2016.
  21. "Why 'The Revenant' Was Not Eligible to Compete for the Oscar for Original Score". Indiewire.com. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
  22. "Alejandro G. Iñárritu on Leading Oscar Nominee 'The Revenant': "This was a film that easily could kill you"". Indiewire. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
  23. "The Revenant – Song Credits". Soundtrack.Net. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  24. "John Luther Adams' Become Ocean featured in Iñárritu's Revenant trailer". The Bang On A Can Sound. July 20, 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  25. "Ultratop.be – Soundtrack / Ryuichi Sakamoto & Alva Noto – The Revenant" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
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